Sledging

Verbal banter used in team sports to unsettle and distract opponents, the word dates from the 1960s and is thought to have originated in Australian cricket. There are two theories about the etymology. The first is that it derives from the word sledgehammer because verbal banter can have a figurative sledgehammer effect on opponents. The other, more fanciful, is that during a match in Australia, fielders made disparaging remarks about an opponent’s wife and then jokingly started to sing When a Man Loves a Woman, the famous Percy Sledge song, hence sledging. Neither origin has been proven but the latter story has been aired on BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) radio by sports writer and commentator Pat Murphy.